Hey, everybody, hope you're having a good December so far and that you enjoy this newest chapter!
Here, Ash wears her regular outfit during the rehearsal. It just never sat right with me that after hearing her practice her song and loving it, Buster still made her wear the popstar princess dress.
Ash arrived at the Moon Theatre on time, guitar case in hand and a spring in her step.
After opening up to Steff and everyone else yesterday, the first thing she'd done upon returning to her apartment was tear up all photos of her toxic ex and herself. The sound of each rip was cathartic. She was determined to forge her own path, and the less Lance was on her mind to drag her down, the better. The porcupine then set to work creating her own song. It had certainly been a lengthy process, from writing the lyrics to figuring out the chords to making the backing music on her laptop. But she thought the end result was at the very least decent. Now it was just a case of convincing Buster to let her perform it.
"Hi there, Ash!" Her mood brightening even more at the sound of that voice, Ash turned to see Steff making her way up the theatre steps.
"Hey, Steff." Ash stepped aside and held the door open for her. "How are you feeling after yesterday?"
"A lot better." The skunk replied, walking inside before her friend followed suite. "You were right. Opening up to my parents really did me a world of good. I guess I spent so much time uplifting you and everyone else, I forgot to uplift myself."
Ash smiled, walking alongside her through the foyer. "Glad to hear it. You feel ready for this show now?"
"Yeah, how are you doing?"
"Much better." She gave her guitar case a pat with her free hand. "Got a new song prepared."
"So you wrote one then?" Steff asked.
"Yep. Started working on it the moment I got home." Her confident smile fell slightly. "I just hope Moon approves it."
Steff placed a hand on her friend's shoulder as they both opened the amphitheatre doors. "I'm sure… he… will?"
Her voice trailed off as she and Ash took notice of the stage. In place of the old wooden planks was a large stage filled with water and comprised entirely of glass. The two teens' eyes remained transfixed on the new podium as they walked closer.
"Whoa." Ash said at last. "That's, uh… pretty ambitious."
"Mr. Moon did all this in one night?" Steff asked, adjusting her glasses as she stared in confusion.
"Whatever the heck that koala's got planned, I hope it's all worth it."
"I'll say." Walking up the new glass steps, they both gingerly made their way across the new surface to the wings. Ash swore she could see something moving down in the water. As soon as she and Steff came through the backstage doors, they were immediately greeted by the sound of Johnny jamming on the piano upstairs. Looking around, they noticed that all the windows for the rehearsal spaces were gone. Baffled for a brief moment, Ash quickly deduced they were being used for the new stage.
"If you want, Ash, I can be your first audience." The porcupine's eyes widened slightly at Steff's offer.
"Are you sure?" The skunk gave her a firm nod.
"Absolutely." Ash thought to herself; she still wasn't totally sure that her song was a hundred percent perfect. Then again, what harm was there in giving a sneak peek to the girl who had encouraged her talents from the start?
"Well… okay."
Once the two teenagers had entered Ash's rehearsal space, she began unpacking and plugging in her guitar while Steff eagerly made herself comfortable on the bench.
"It's my first song I've ever written so I doubt it'll be a masterpiece or anything." The porcupine said, adjusting the knob on her instrument. "Feel free to critique it."
Taking a deep breath, she started to gently pluck at the strings with her pick. All the while, Steff watched and listened to her singing in awe:
I followed my heart into the fire
Got burned, got broken down by desire
I tried, I tried but the smoke in my eyes
Left me blurry, blurry and blind
I picked all the pieces up off the ground
Got dirt on my fingers, but that's gone now
Got the glue in my hands and stickin' to the plan
Stickin' to the plan that says "I can"
Do anything at all
I can do anything at all
Glancing at the skunk, still totally enraptured by her, Ash eased her anxious stance and her singing in the chorus gained more confidence:
This is my kiss goodbye
You can stand alone and watch me fly
'Cause nothing's keeping me down
Gonna let it all out
Come on and say right now, right now, right now
This is my big hello
'Cause I'm here and never letting go
I can finally see, it's not just a dream
When you set it all free, all free, all free
You set it all freeee
On that final held note, Ash ceased her strumming. Before Steff could open her mouth to shower her with praise, another voice beat her to the punch.
"Wow." Both turned to see Buster standing in the open doorway, clipboard in hand. "You wrote that?"
"Uhh, yeah." Ash replied somewhat hesitantly. "Do you like it?"
"Are you kidding?" An ecstatic grin spread across the koala's lips. "It's fantastic! You've gotta sing that today!" As he ran back out the door, Steff turned to see her friend's surprise give way to a confident smile. Jumping to her feet, the skunk beamed as well.
"He took the words right out of my mouth."
"You mean it?" Ash asked.
"Ash, I'm having a hard time believing that's your first time songwriting, because you nailed it!" Steff exclaimed. "Believe me, that song's gonna blow Nana's mind!"
As soon as she spoke those words, Ash gently placed her guitar down beside her and wrapped the skunk in a tight hug.
"Thanks, Steff." She replied softly in her ear before pulling away, looking into her eyes. "And I'm sure yours will too."
Gazing back, Steff almost wanted to kiss her right there and then. The moment was extremely tempting. However she quickly concluded that now was not the appropriate time, especially given her very recent breakup.
Save the confession for after the competition, remember? The voice inside her brain harangued. Realising they were both holding eye contact longer than expected, the two of them gently stepped back from one another.
"Well, I, uh..." The skunk stammered, a heavy blush blossoming under her fur. "I-I'd better go get some last-minute practicing done before she arrives."
Ash quickly nodded, feeling her own face heating up. "S-Sure, yeah, you go ahead."
Turning on her heel, the skunk quickly walked out the door toward her own rehearsal room. Once inside, she took a deep cleansing breath before pulling up her new song choice on her phone. Scanning the title over and over, the courage in her smile grew.
This was, without a doubt, the perfect song.
The entire backstage area was alive with hustle and bustle. Now that Nana was due to arrive any minute, every contestant was on their feet making last-minute preparations. Yesterday Steff would've been scared out of her wits, but now with her new song under her belt, she shone with confidence. As Meena moved some wheeled crates about, Buster walked along glancing at his clipboard.
"Mike, you're on first." Steff rolled her eyes at the pompous mouse lounging atop a fancy cushion on a director's chair.
"Sure, uh, just a second here." He replied, stopping to answer his phone.
"Okay, and Gunter, you're on after Mike."
Right on cue, Rosita stepped through the backstage door. "You got it, boss!"
"Rosita!" Gunter's anxiousness instantly melted away, giving the pig a high five with a laugh. "Super cool! You've, like, totally come back!"
"Okay, Johnny, you follow them."
"What?" The gorilla looked up from the morning newspaper he was busy reading on the staircase. "Oh! Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm ready. Yeah, yeah."
"Ash, you're..."
"After Johnny. I got it." She swiftly replied, giving her lyrics sheet one last read.
"Steff..."
"I follow Ash." Steff said, stuffing her phone back into her dress pocket. "Sure thing, Mr. Moon." Whilst the koala went to talk with Meena, Steff joined Ash over by the background props. The porcupine gave her a nudge with her elbow.
"You ready for this?"
"As I'll ever be." The skunk replied. "You?"
"With your support? Definitely." Ash smiled. "I'm just happy I don't have to wear that dumb dress anymore."
Glancing at her friend's punky attire, Steff smiled in return. "Yeah, glad that Mr. Moon finally saw how unfitting it was for a rock star like yourself."
"Yeah." Blushing modestly beneath her fur, Ash quickly cleared her throat. "So, uh, you doing No One for your act? Awkward dancing aside, you did do a great job singing it yesterday."
"Much appreciated, but I'm actually not singing that one." Steff responded. "Or any of my listed songs for that matter."
"Then what do you have planned?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow with intrigue.
"A song that feels much more... me."
"Mr. Moon!" Buster, along with everybody else, looked upward to see Miss Crawly on the rigging, nervously pointing to the window. "She's here."
"Alright, everybody, take your places backstage." The koala shouted, making a break for the door. "Meena, you give the lighting a once-over while I go and greet Nana." As soon as he'd left, the contestants immediately rushed about to get ready as fast as they could.
"And you'll have to wait and see what it is." Steff hastily continued as she and Ash made their way to the wings.
"Oh, secretive, are we?" Ash playfully shoved the skunk's shoulder, prompting her to laugh.
"If it makes you more excited for my act, then yes, I am."
Before long, everybody was waiting and watching with bated breath as Nana Noodleman herself, joined by Buster's sheep friend from the auditions, took her seat in the royal box with a perfect view of the stage. The chest containing the prize money was in the centre, propped on top of a small glass stand with steps. Steff could've sworn Mike was missing from the group but chose to ignore that as the stage lights started to dim. All went quiet as the gold crescent moon prop lowered in front of the red curtain, Buster balancing on it with the spotlight shining upon him.
"All creatures great and small, welcome to the Moon Theatre!" He announced into the microphone grasped in his hand. "I am your host Buster Moon and-wuaaaaah!"
The moon prop suddenly lowered way too fast before coming to an abrupt stop midway. Everyone turned to look at Meena who sheepishly moved her trunk away from the levers. Nana looked on, unimpressed, as the other sheep facepalmed.
"Okay..." The koala hastily pulled himself back up, clearing his throat. "Behold, the very first stage lit entirely by... squid power!"
With that, the curtains parted as Flashing Lights by Kanye began playing over the speakers. Steff's eyes widened in wonder as hundreds of squid danced around in the water tank behind Buster, flashing like fireworks to the rhythm. Everybody in the wings, Steff included, applauded and cheering at this dazzling display, beyond impressed. Even Nana looked amazed. Jumping down onto the stage, Buster did little dances on the spot, the squids all following his every step.
"Yes! And as you can see, this is no ordinary theatre." He continued, explosions of colour bursting under his feet. "This is a place of wonder and magic!" It was safe to say Nana was completely enraptured, fanning herself as the other sheep looked on in amazement.
"Please welcome our first contestant..." The amphitheatre doors suddenly burst open with a bang. The music ground to a halt and the squid stopping flashing as three bears stormed in toward the stage. "Whoa."
"Which one of you is Moon?" The bear in front boomed in a strong Russian accent.
"Hey, hey, hey, you can't just barge in here..." Buster's protest was interrupted by the bear holding up his paw.
"You know this guy?" Steff and everyone else's eyes widened as they instantly recognised the rodent clenched in his fist.
"Mike?"
"Right. Mike here says you got his money and it's in that box." Ash and Steff both shifted uncomfortably at the literal hostage situation taking place.
"No, no, no, no, no." The koala replied confidently, folding his arms. "Just hold on a moment here. That's prize money, and it's not Mike's unless he wins it fair and..."
"G-Give him the money!" Mike begged, struggling to breath in the bear's fist. Steff winced, instinctively clutching her throat. As much of a jerk as the mouse was, she wasn't sure she wanted to see him die.
"Okay, okay! Hey, hey, take it!" Buster quickly changed his tune. "The whole chest, it's yours, okay? All right here." Unsatisfied, the lead bear now pressed his claws to Mike's throat.
"Open it." He demanded.
"Open it? I-I, no... me?"
"Open it!" Mike wheezed, struggling desperately. Buster nervously scrambled away from the bear trio, now towering over him, and up onto the glass stand.
"Okay, no, I-I just don't... I don't have the keys." He winced in pain as the bear picked him up by the ear. "So maybe you could come back later?"
"Get out of the way!" Tossing both of them aside, the lead bear gestured to his crony who handed him a baseball bat.
"No, no, no, no, no, no! Wait!"
Buster's pleas went unheard. Everyone flinched as the bear brought the bat down onto the chest, smashing it and the stand into pieces. A cloud of dust gathered around the remains.
"Hey, there ya go! Big guy with the bat!" Mike chuckled anxiously, brushing his suit off as he got to his feet. "Who needs keys, right? Alright, let's get this thing squared up now." Everybody watched tentatively as the mouse walked into the ruins of the chest, the dust starting to settle.
"What the...?" Mike rummaged through the broken wood. "That's it? That's all there is?" Steff's eyebrows furrowed as she made out the contents: a watch, a rolled-up carpet, an old radio and a bunch of other junk. And the few dollars she spied didn't look anywhere near a hundred grand. Holding the watch in his hand, Mike turned to glare daggers at the koala.
"He lied."
Small gasps escaped everyone's mouths. All eyes were on Buster now.
"Moon lied to us all!" The mouse shouted, throwing the watch down. The bears turned their anger toward him as everyone else began to advance.
"W-Wait a second, I can explain..."
"He's your problem, not me!" Mike said to the head bear, who was smacking the bat into his hand threateningly.
"This is just a prop..."
"So where's the hundred-thousand dollars?" Johnny demanded as he and the other contestants got closer.
"You're kidding!" Rosita exclaimed as everybody else voiced their own disbelief.
"I cannot believe you've lied to us this whole time!"
"You led us all on for a box of junk?" Steff said, shocked. "How could you?" Even though she personally hasn't entered this contest for the money, the fact that Buster had lied to them about it still felt like a huge betrayal.
"What's the big idea?" Ash snapped at the koala feebly trying to diffuse the situation. "This was a huge waste of everyone's..."
The interrogations quickly stopped as she, Steff and the others took notice of the squids flashing red beneath them. Cracks were beginning to form in the stage from everyone's weight. Their anger vanishing, all of them glanced up in horror at the glass wall starting to crack too, streams of water spraying out.
"Buster, look out!" The male sheep shouted from the royal box.
The glass exploded.
A torrent of water gushed out of the tank and swept up Buster, the contestants and the bears. Steff screamed, trying desperately to stay above the rushing water as it carried her and the other panicking animals over the stalls, out the amphitheatre and into the foyer. Meena's body plugged up the ticket booth window, loose theatre seats piling up around the glass doors.
"I'm stuck!" She cried as the water rose around her. The pillars for the dress circle gave way, causing it to fall and block off the auditorium completely. The contestants were all trapped in the gradually flooding foyer, struggling to stay afloat. The ceiling light fizzled out and dropped into the water, just missing Steff. The skunk flailed about in the raging water, both trying to keep her glasses on and not sink. Eventually grabbing onto something floating beside her, she gasped for breath before looking around at the chaos.
The water continued to rise as the hundreds of panicking squid darted around in all directions. The marble support columns were crumbling whilst Gunter and Rosita tried to push the elephant free, her trunk just barely above the water level, but she just wouldn't budge. Steff's terror only worsened as she couldn't see Ash anywhere.
To her left, Johnny suddenly burst out of the water and grabbed onto one of the collapsing pillars. Sucking in a breath, he ducked under again and launched himself at Meena. The force of the gorilla's push made Meena shoot out of the ticket booth like a champagne cork, the rest of the glass bursting as well. Water, chairs, debris and everyone else flooded out onto the street as nearby pedestrians looked on in shock.
As soon as all the water thankfully washed away into the nearest drains, everyone groggily got to their feet spluttering. Steff coughed up the remaining water from her lungs as Buster ran out onto the street.
"Is everyone okay?" He asked worriedly before spotting Nana being helped into her waiting car, but not before shooting the koala a piercing glare. "Nana! I-I-I'm so sorry, I-I just... No, no, no, no, d-don't go!"
Johnny rushed over and gently helped the drenched skunk up, readjusting her glasses which were hanging off her ear. "Are you okay, Steff?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She nodded, taking in gasps of air. "Good thinking in there." Looking down, she realised the improvised floatation device she was still holding onto was, in fact, Ash's wet and slightly dented guitar case. Her eyes widening, she looked around frantically before seeing the porcupine rise from some wooden debris, holding her head.
"Oh, my... Ash!" Steff cried, running over in a panic. "Ash, are you hurt?!"
"No, I'm alright." She replied, standing up slowly. "Just a little dizzy." A wave of relief rushed through the skunk before she remembered the case in her grip.
"Oh, here, I-I saved your guitar case." She held it out to Ash. Gasping, she took it and clutched it to her chest in relief.
"Thank you so m..." The words died in her mouth as a low rumble came from the theatre. Everyone slowly turned to look, some loose stones falling from the cracked walls onto the street. Suddenly a thunderous cloud of dust roared from the wrecked foyer.
"Look out!" Buster cried out as the cloud covered them all. Ash shut her eyes and shielded Steff and herself with her guitar case as the terrible sound of crashing stone nearly deafened them. At last, it stopped. Everybody coughed as the dust gradually settled. Opening their eyes, Buster and the contestants all gazed in shock.
In the space where the Moon Theatre once stood proudly now lay a mountain of smashed wood and stone. As the koala stumbled into the ruins trying to find something salvageable, Steff and everyone else continued to stare at the destruction. They watched in sadness as Miss Crawly placed an arm over Buster's shoulder as he fell to his knees and wept helplessly. Even though he'd lied about the prize money, seeing him lose everything like this didn't make the situation any better. Steff and Ash slowly looked at one another, both devastated.
"I... I gotta get home." The skunk finally said, her voice nearly inaudible. Ash gave the tiniest nod.
"Me too." She replied numbly.
"I'll see you later."
"Yeah. See ya."
With that, the two of them slowly turned and walked away from the ruined theatre in opposite directions. Steff didn't even bother flagging down a taxi, instead choosing to trudge all the way home miserably, her dress and shoes drenched and coated in dust.
The moment she stepped through the café door, her moms' faces dropped in concern. Blinking back tears, the skunk simply shook her head. Without a word, Cassie and Andrea stopped tidying up and quickly rushed to hug their disheartened daughter.
As optimistic as Steff strived to be, there was no way she could see a bright side to any of this. Both her and Ash's singing chances were gone.
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Song(s) used:
Set It All Free - Scarlett Johansson
The movie Sing belongs to Illumination Entertainment. I only own my OC, Steff Pearce.